Mercenary's War

Satisfactory result, and an expected outcome.

Give Karl what he wants most, Gao Yang doesn’t believe Karl would refuse. Of course, convincing Karl Stemonsen to completely dispel his doubts with just a few words is too naive.

But Gao Yang is confident in making Karl take the bait.

Sure enough, Karl first thanked him, then immediately followed up with, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to kill Grand Ivan?"

Gao Yang clapped his hands a few times, then smiled and said, "Because of money, such a simple question, aren’t you embarrassed to ask?"

Karl shook his head, looking puzzled, and said, "Just to satisfy my curiosity, otherwise, I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing."

Gao Yang finally became serious, and in a deep voice said, "This is a business secret, but unless I reveal more, you probably won’t believe me. Well then, I’ll tell you about it."

Karl adopted a listening posture, and Gao Yang said very seriously, "Apart from Grand Ivan, there is another very famous arms dealer, his name is Djo Malthael, have you heard of him?"

"Haven’t heard of him."

Gao Yang had an ’as expected’ expression, then continued, "Djo Malthael is dead, it happened not too long ago, he was taken out during the ceremony commemorating the Normandy landings in World War II."

Karl showed a sudden realization and said, "It was him? Now I understand, he’s an arms dealer?"

"The biggest arms dealer, at the same level as Grand Ivan, also a mortal enemy of Grand Ivan, and Djo wanted to steal Grand Ivan’s territory, so Grand Ivan got rid of him. There’s no evidence, but everyone believes it was Grand Ivan because only Grand Ivan would have the motive and ability to take out Djo Malthael, and in the Underworld, that’s enough."

"I understand, please continue."

Gao Yang smiled and said, "So now someone wants to take out Grand Ivan, not just the successor of Djo Malthael’s arms group, achieving the level of arms dealer like Grand Ivan, many people want to take him out. When someone wants to take out Grand Ivan, that’s business, you understand?"

"I understand."

Gao Yang smiled and said, "Coincidentally, you want to take out Grand Ivan, and I see your capabilities, so if you’re willing to go all out to take out Grand Ivan, why shouldn’t I take on the task and let you do it? You do the work, I get paid, isn’t that great? Of course, the premise of doing so is to first save you from crisis, although troublesome and difficult, I think it’s worth it."

Karl exhaled, then nodded, and said solemnly, "I don’t know much about mercenaries, but are you sure you can get the money? What if we fail?"

Gao Yang laughed and said, "Then it would be a failed investment of mine. Investment, you see, has successes and failures, and I’m willing to take a gamble, especially after seeing your capabilities."

Karl bowed his head in thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I still don’t quite understand, why do you want to assassinate Grand Ivan, simply for money, and then knowing we want to take him out, you saved us? It’s not convincing, because you could use an easier method."

Gao Yang shook his head and said, "No, there’s no easier way. Understand one thing, a major player like Grand Ivan, who dare make a move to take him out? Mercenaries risk their lives for money, not to die. If they know it involves assassinating Grand Ivan, do you think anyone wouldn’t fear retaliation?"

Karl nodded, and said in a low voice, "That’s true."

Gao Yang continued, "I chose you for another important reason, you’re at the dead end, truly desperate, at the brink of death. In this situation, I choose you to complete the task of taking out Grand Ivan, very suitable."

Karl laughed quietly, and said softly, "Indeed very suitable, because you couldn’t find anyone more suitable than us."

Gao Yang chuckled lightly, and then confidently said, "I haven’t taken on the task of taking out Grand Ivan yet, because I hadn’t planned to take such a job before, but now with your situation, things are different. I will soon take the task to take out Grand Ivan and ask for a high price. Once you recover, you’ll have to take him out, that’s the condition for saving you."

Karl said solemnly, "What if we fail?"

"Simple, I’ll lose a large amount of money."

Karl pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "This deal seems good so far, but I have one more question, what happens after we succeed? If we successfully take out Grand Ivan and fortunately survive, then what?"

Gao Yang waved his hand and said solemnly, "All wiped clean, you can do whatever you want, has nothing to do with me. I have only one request, never reveal our relationship or what happened."

Karl exhaled, smiled, and said, "Sounds good."

Gao Yang said seriously, "I also have many questions to ask you, but before I ask, there’s something I need to remind you about."

"Please."

"You previously served your country."

"Yes."

"I don’t know why you’ve become public enemies of the nation, and I’m not interested in knowing. But one thing I must remind you of, the principle of leaving family out of it doesn’t apply with me."

Karl pondered, "Leaving family out of it?"

Gao Yang smiled and said, "If you’re meant to die, it has nothing to do with your family. You’ve become an enemy of America, so the U.S. Government wants to take you out, but they won’t harm your family. Sometimes the government is very dark, but this one point they do well. But we are different, we don’t have the extensive power of a nation, nor the means to ensure you keep secrets if you remain alive."

Karl’s expression grew unpleasant, and Gao Yang leaned back and said solemnly, "I don’t want to deal in silencing people, so I have no intention of killing you after a successful mission and survival, although it would be a once-and-for-all solution. I don’t like it, and if I don’t like it, I won’t do it, whether you believe it or not."

Karl remained silent, and Gao Yang continued, "I’ll speak frankly. My means to control and intimidate you into keeping secrets can only be through your family. Believe me, if you say things you shouldn’t, and involve me and the Solar System Company, then before I die, your family would certainly come to harm first."

Karl nodded.

Gao Yang said solemnly, "Got it?"

Karl said with a stern face, "I got it, I understand very well."